E. Istorico - 05/07/98 12:42:46
| Comments:
Catherine McHugh from New York State Office of Quality Assurance was at Dominican College to give a workshop on the Special Education and the legal issues which are a concern to many parents, advocates, teachers,and other professionals who work within the
educational system. As per Catherine McHugh,if the recommodations of your child's teacher is indicated as no change in program, then the present program is to REMAIN in place. For example, if your child is in a pull out resourse program and the teacher
oes not want a change to the program, the child must remain in the pull out program regardless of what the district has in mind. Their scheduling is not to override the recommodations of the teachers. In addition to all of this, Catherine McHugh also st
ted the "systematic dumping" of children into the mainstream classroom is the result of incentive aid given by the state to each school district for declassifing a child or removing pull out program. Where is the needs of the child in this equation. In
ssence, there is no safety net for our children if there isn't any alternative to the classroom--what type of evaluation is in place to measure the effectiveness of a "new program." As stated in Part 200--resource room is a supplemental aid--requires a m
nimum of three (3)hours(not one hour like the district is purposing) and a small supportive group with a ratio of five (5)students to one (1) teacher. Consultant services does not have the small group setting--the ratio of 5:1 does not exist and the s
rvice could be direct or indirect. Therefore, if parents were led to believe they are going to receive the same service as they are presently getting check your IEP. The ratio is the key to making sure your child does receive the individual attention an
check the rationale paragraph. Three hours of combine service is not legal and the district must apply for an innovative program waiver. BUT REMEMBER THE NEEDS OF THE CHILD ARE TO BE PRIMARY--NOT A SCHEDULE OR ENROLLMENT ISSUES. You must ask yourself-
WHY IS MY CHILD'S SERVICE CHANGING IN SEPTEMBER--BECAUSE HIS/HER NEEDS HAVE CHANGED OR NOW THE DISTRICT WANTS TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. IT IS THE NEEDS OF THE CHILD WHICH IS THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF ANY CSE MEETING WHEN THE IEP IS DEVELOPED.
Who is responsible for ensuring that the Federal and State laws are followed? The answer is...the administration of each school district, which would include the CSE chair and any one who chair a sub-CSE.
Remember--the unique needs of the child determines the placement/program/service--not the schedule, enrollment issues, budgetary concerns, staffing,etc...
Catherine McHugh will be back at Dominican College at the HENNESSEY CENTER next Wednesday, May 13 from 12-4 and again from 6-10--come hear her speak the IEP process, the service a school must give a student, the IDEA VIOLATION WHICH HAVE BECOME A COMM
N PRACTICE BY MANY SCHOOLS, question and answers to all your concerns.
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E. Istorico - 05/01/98 12:25:06
| Comments:
New York State has agreed to investigate the district for various non-compliance complaints. If any parent feels their children's rights have been violated and want to join a group of parents filing with the state--please make contact in confidence.
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Libby - 04/27/98 00:51:19
My Email:LTulin
| Comments:
I can't get very far on this web site yet I was told there was a lot re: Nanuet and new policy with inclusion. I am a member of district with designated kids. Please e-mail
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A mom - 04/26/98 13:04:04
My URL:http://www.bazelon.org/
| Comments:
Here is a link to the Bazelon Center. They advocate for children with mental illness or any behaviorial issues due to there disability. We all live with this if we have children that ar LD.
The latest and greatest is on this site. check it out.
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The Webcommittee - 04/26/98 12:12:28
My Email:nanuetpar@hotmail.com
| Comments:
Would anyone be interested in a Parents Rights Workshop and Self-Advocacy training? We can organize one. Anyone interested you can send me mail here or if you have needy friends that do not have email just drop me a line.
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Another Inhabitant - 04/26/98 12:07:41
| Comments:
I have another take on this. We all have to be proactive and literate. If we all work together for the best interest of all our children things will get better. It is hard work. There are some very good laws protecting our children and we have to make
ure that they are enforced. Read the New York Regs, the Federal Regs, ADA, 504. This is a democracy but we will lose our rights if we don't make sure that they are followed. That is what has happen here in my opinion. This can change if you stand up f
r your rights as a parent and a citizen of New York and the USA. The laws are on the books already. Someone else did alot of work to get them there. Lets keep them on the books by having them enforced.
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Nanuet Inhabitant - 04/26/98 04:54:35
| Comments:
It was troubling to me to see the scores in some academic areas against comparable schools in the NEW YORK STATE REPORT CARD, especially in reading.I hope that change is on the horizon.
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A. Gillingham - 04/26/98 02:00:18
| Comments:
If a district decides to combine services, such as consultant and resource room, they must apply for an innovative program waiver from NY State Education Department. Resource Room--state regs mandate the service cannot be less than three hours and the rat
o of students to teacher is 5:1, Consultant services may be indirect or direct--consultant may have up to 20 students--if district exceeds the legal limit they must apply for a variance and the parents must be NOTIFIED. Did you know under Part 100.11 if
program is develop it must involve parties with a vested interest, this would include administrator, TEACHERS AND PARENTS--of course at my school the TEACHERS AND PARENTS WERE ELIMINATED FROM THE PROCESS. I guess it is not too hard to guess why.
Remember parents, it is up to you to know the difference between consultant service, indirect/direct service or resource room--the regulations where this is stated is Part 200 under consultant service and resource room. The more you know the better off yo
r child will be.
DID YOU KNOW IF A DISTRICT IS NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE FEDERAL AND STATE REGULATIONs THEY JEOPARDIZE LOSING THEIR STATE AND LOCAL AID. Non compliance means no MONEY!
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A mom - 04/24/98 21:47:26
| Comments:
The Gregg ammendment was withdrawn. I saw this in Exceptional Children link
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Jackie Weissman - 04/24/98 19:18:33
My URL:http://www.mentor-media.com
My Email:jackiew@edpro.com
| Comments:
To whom it my concern,
I was wondering if you would be interested in linking your site to our site called Parenting on the Go. Parenting on the Go gives advice to parents about issues of family guidance and discipline.
Please take a look at Parenting on the Go at www.mentor-media.com and let me know if you think it would be an appropriate link for your web site.
Thank you very much for your time.
Jackie Weissman
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A Mom - 04/20/98 11:22:15
My URL:http://www.nysed.gov/vesid/special.html
| Comments:
Here is a list of New York State Regional Offices for Special Education and the Quality Assurance corrdinator if anyone needs some help.
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The Webcommittee - 04/19/98 23:26:10
My URL:http://www.cec.sped.org/pp/alert4-8.htm
| Comments:
Check out this alert. you can send a letter from here via email to your senator. The have a sample letter.
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a Mom - 04/19/98 19:03:31
My URL:98prile1.html
| Comments:
Here is a list of upcoming legislation in NYS.
The Education was suppose to be updated to conform to IDEA in March according to this document.
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a Mom - 04/19/98 18:59:41
My URL:phonenum.html
| Comments:
Here is a list of phone numbers of individuals in the NYS Education Department
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A Teacher - 04/18/98 16:33:52
My URL:http://www.nysut.org/index.html
| Comments:
Here is a link to The New York State Teachers Union. I hope this will be helpful.
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Joe Barra - 04/15/98 21:37:03
My Email:jbarra@datavox.com
| Comments:
I woiuld like to relocate to Nanuet and would like to learn more about the area. If you know of a good realtor and have any information about the schools it would be greatly apprieciated
Joe Barra
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a mom - 04/13/98 01:38:20
| Comments:
Happy holidays to everyone! I think it would be great to set up a chat night here at Geocities. Is anyone interested? I was thinking Thursday night at 9:00 pm would be good. Just post a note here if you would like to meet.
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A. Gillingham - 04/09/98 15:48:31
| Comments:
I am very concerned about a conversation I had with a parent.
She stated that at her IEP: No one could answer how the testing modification were to be handled, how the service were suppose to be delivered, who is keeping track of time of consultants, what is the difference between resource time and cons
ltant time, etc.
My response is this: Make sure that indirect or direct consultant service is written into your IEP. Understand the different. If consultant services are indicated on the IEP the frequency and duration must be indicated also. You have the right to rejec
the program designed for your child--do not sign the IEP--if you are not asked for a signature then write a letter stating you do not agree with the IEP. You are on the last IEP you agreed too. They cannot change your program without your consent!!! Pare
ts cannot assume the district is going to tell them everything. A consultant teacher may be in the same room as your child but it does not mean he/she is getting direct consultant service unless you specify it on your IEP. Part 200 of the New York Stat
Regulation will provide the law and David Diamond will fill in what is not clear 245-0010.
If what you are hearing doesn't make sense--go to another source other than the district.
HAS ANYONE EVER WONDERED WHY THE MIDDLE SCHOOL IS NOT USING THE CURRENT INCLUSION SETTING AT THE ELEMENTARY
AS THEIR MODEL?
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- 04/08/98 01:58:20
| Comments:
I am enjoying the thought provoking posts that are appearing on this bulletin board. Keep up the good work! And remember that you, as parents, know whats right for your kids. Teachers and administrators, no matter how well-intentioned they might be, a
e often motivated by other factors, including budgetary and scheduling constraints, when making educational decisions that will affect your children. You must carefully police programs to make sure that these concerns never overshadow the real purpose fo
the development of program. In order to do this, become informed. Ask direct questions and refer to the state regulations whenever possible when asking these questions. Knowledge is power. If we expect our kids to do their homework, should we expect
ess of ourselves?
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The webcommittee - 04/08/98 00:38:15
My Email:nanuetpar@hotmail.com
| Comments:
Sure, I will post a form. Let me know what you want on it and then we will have a list of who would want to participate. Sounds great!!!!
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A Nanuet Parent - 04/08/98 00:34:54
| Comments:
I would love to work on a parent organization.
North Rockland has one. Look at the North Rockland link. We could do alot of great things for our kids. That is what this is all about. Getting our children educated so they can live prosperous and happy lives. Lets set up a organizational meeting. Maybe
the webmaster could make a survey form then we could start a group?
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- 04/08/98 00:25:26
My URL:http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/talk.htm
| Comments:
A. Gillingham made a good point about books on tape. New York has a free program that the district can subscribe to to get classroom materials ready for there LD students. I included the link. If you want leisure material for your child then you can also
order it through this agency but your school books should be supplied by the district as I understand. Isn't it great living in New York. They already have this set-up for us.
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Nanuet Parent - 04/08/98 00:22:53
| Comments:
I just found you. I am so glad there is something for the parent. PS WE Can is not a parent support group. I hope that we could start something at Nanuet--other districts have parent groups run by parents. Please see if others would like to start some
hing and put it on the bulletin board.
Thanks for starting this--now we can come together and hold the district accountable for their actions.
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A. Gillingham - 04/08/98 00:03:58
| Comments:
I don't fault the teachers but the administration--they know what the law is and they know non-compliance means revocation of state and federal aid.
Non-compliance are things like: IEP's not distributed to personnel involved with classified students, if teacher is unaware of what is contained in the IEP the school is not in compliance, consultant teachers case load exceeding legal limit of 20 except i
the case of a waiver request (KIM SMITH will be able to tell you if Yyour school applied for one 914 245-0010), Resource exceeds 20 except in the case of secondary education maximum is 25 (if there is a middle school this includes 6 through 12) therefo
e age
determines the number of cases. There are plenty of other issues which parents need to be aware of.
Parents cannot help their children if they do not understand the disability or the laws which govern this small group of individuals.
In addition, the district, not the parent is responsible for obtaining books on tape, material which is necessary to accommodate the child within the classroom setting. If you have been told otherwise, the information is incorrect and the district is loo
ing keep the special education budget down. This is discrimination against persons with disabilities--there isn't any regular ed. student whose parents are told they need to get materials such textbooks for their children. Check with David Diamond from st
te ed. dept. 914 245-0010.
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A.GILLINGHAM - 04/07/98 23:42:53
| Comments:
In response to Norma. Yes the district is out of compliance at times. Unfortunately, some teachers do not even realize this because they are not familiar with the law.
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- 04/07/98 17:31:28
| Comments:
Teenagers with ADD, 12 week workshop.
Dr. Alan Levy
Crossfields West Nyack Suite 415
12 sessions April 20th 6PM
Call 358-4212 for information
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Norma - 04/07/98 14:20:06
| Comments:
It is unclear how a District can blatantly
continue to be out of compliance with so many regs.
It would be in the best interest of our children if every parent understood all of the law which governs special education. The district counts on parents not knowing the regulations.
Understanding the IEP process, teacher certification, due process will empower the parents to get the appropiate programs for their children. If this district expects every child to meet the high standards set by the Board of Regents, the school cannot
ive them a stool to get there. It is time for parents to finally take a strong stand and no longer tolerate mediocre education.
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Norma - 04/07/98 14:10:15
| Comments:
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Norma - 04/07/98 14:10:14
| Comments:
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- 04/07/98 13:50:00
| Comments:
Does anyone know:
1. Are any teachers are 80.7 certified in reading in the district? If so, who are they?
2. Are any teachers certified to teach multisensory reading at the specified level?
3. What does mimimal progress mean to you?
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- 04/07/98 12:16:01
| Comments:
In order for the best practice model to work, (see below). The regular ed teacher needs to training and resources and enough consult time right!. We have to make sure that this happens. If not, the child loses and the conclusion will be made that the ch
ld will need to be placed in a more restrictive enviorment, not that the classroom enviorment needs to be changed. We need to make sure that all the components in the inclusion model are in place before we make judgements about the childs placement. Who
s going to police this? The parents, principal, sped director? The school committees needs to recognize this when they work on the budgets. This isn't trivial.
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- 04/07/98 02:06:55
| Comments:
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- 04/07/98 01:48:19
| Comments:
Your question about the inability to place students in RR is a good one to bring up at the next meeting at the middle school. The current thinking of inclusionists is that special education does not have to occur in a particular "place". If teachers con
ult with a specialist and utilize the best teaching technigues, they will be able to meet the needs of all students. I'm not saying I agree with this, but that is the philosophy.
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- 04/06/98 12:04:42
| Comments:
I agree with the person regarding placement based on the IEP. I went to a meeting regarding the middle school. I thought it was strange that they decided to delete resource room based on overcrowding. If a student required resource room to meet the goal
in the IEP, how can this happen?
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- 04/05/98 02:04:45
| Comments:
In response to Nanuet Parent regarding techguide: I would have to agree with you. If in fact the IEP must be developed before placement decisions are made then it seems that Nanuet is out of compliance.
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- 04/04/98 13:08:33
My URL:http://www.npnd.org/IDEAHOME.htm
| Comments:
I got this in my mail.
Attempts in the U.S. Senate to amend the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act of 1997 have prompted Senator Jeffords and Congressman Goodling to
schedule a joint hearing on IDEA proposed regulations. The hearing, to beheld
April 22, 1998, will allow the stakeholders to tell Congress their opinionon the
proposed IDEA regulations.
Here are current events regarding IDEA.
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steve kurtz - 04/03/98 02:42:06
My Email:kurtzface@aol.com
| Comments:
so glad to see you up and running
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- 04/01/98 22:38:53
My URL:techguide.html
| Comments:
Please look at techguide. This is a result of a OSEP audit in 1995. Some of these look familiar.
Does anyone else?
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- 04/01/98 21:19:24
| Comments:
Does anyone's town in New york use sub-CSE meetings for annual reviews. I was told that they can only make changes in the same level of services? That means they have already wrote the IEP before the meeting. Aren't they suppose to write the IEP at the
meeting? Does anyone have this experience in your town.
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- 04/01/98 21:16:29
| Comments:
Our town in New York doesn't ask for our signature on the IEP at the yearly review.
Does anyone have experience with this issue in New York. Other states require a signature. Any comment?
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The webcommittee - 04/01/98 02:23:29
My Email:nanuetpar@hotmail.com
| Comments:
Please send any notices and upcoming events to me and I'll post it on the bulletin board.
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Kathy - 03/30/98 00:24:43
My Email:Katht@prodigy.net
| Comments:
Hello! I can't seem to access your bulletin board. Is it up and running? I would love to see what's going on and perhaps contribute. Thanks.
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Carol - 03/29/98 07:30:50
My Email:nineline@frontiernet.net
| Comments:
Keep me posted. I have my child's case in the Appeals Court in Albany. I'd like to be a support for other parents. I've been around the mountain.
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The Webcommittee - 02/24/98 20:18:11
My Email:nanuetpar@hotmail.com
| Comments:
Thanks for visiting our site. I can't wait to start our chat group.
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